Due to a continuing rise in the number of prescriptions being given to patients and needing to be filled, as well as the increased need for pharmacist care services and face-to-face pharmacist patient counseling, automation behind the pharmacy counter is becoming not just desirable, but necessary. For example, with the increased demands placed upon pharmacists and pharmacy staff, not only does the time in which a patient must wait for the filling of the patients prescriptions increase, but the possibility for mistakes in the filling of such prescription increases.
One solution for increasing the efficiency with which prescriptions may be filled is the use of a robotic system interfaced with a computer. For instance, to fill a prescription with such a system a pharmacist first enters the number of tablets needed into the computer. Once quantity has been entered, the pharmacist may select the storage cell which contains the desired tablets or capsules. Upon selection, the tablets or capsules are automatically delivered into a holding compartment until released by the pharmacist into the prescription vial.
Although employment of a robotic system to fill prescriptions has increased the accuracy as well as the efficiency of dispensing medications, the robotic system is disadvantageous under certain circumstances. For example, in order to justify the expense of a robotic system hundreds of prescriptions need to filled daily. Thus, such system is not feasible for smaller pharmacies, hospitals, or health care facilities. In addition, such systems may be complex and difficult to use. Further, while the conventional robotic system is capable of filling prescription vials which contain multiple pills such a system is not designed to fill unit-of-use containers or dispensers. For example, in an effort to monitor patient compliance with a certain drug therapy it is often desirable to package medication in single-unit containers designed so that the contents are to be administered to the patient as a single-dose, direct from the container.
Therefore, it would be desirable to design an assembly for filling prescriptions which increases the efficiency and accuracy of dispensing of the medication, is low in cost and simple to use. It would be further desirable to design an assembly capable of filling unit-of-use medication containers or dispensers.